


Hallelujah

by Savedbyholmes (ShezzasCompanion)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Confrontation about Siberia, M/M, Nighmares, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Protective Stephen Strange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 11:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15266316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShezzasCompanion/pseuds/Savedbyholmes
Summary: After Steve and his half of the Avengers return to the compound, Stephen notices that Tony is acting differently and he wants to know why. The answer comes after Tony has a nightmare and Stephen is less than pleased with what his lover tells him.





	Hallelujah

**Author's Note:**

  * For [merelypassingtime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/merelypassingtime/gifts).



Stephen noticed a change in Tony not long after Steve and his half of the old Avengers team came back to the compound. Tony’s usual manic energy was more subdued, he was quieter, but more noticeably he had seemed to make himself scarce. Before the others came back, Tony would roam around the compound throughout the day. He’d sit out in the common area with Rhodes and talk or he would sit by Stephen to watch TV or read over some physics or engineering magazine. But now, he spent most of his time in the lab tinkering on his suit or making upgrading Peter’s. He had even gone so far as to draw out a new design for the reactor in his chest and Stephen swore that he had seen a holograph image of a paper that Tony appeared to be writing for one of the magazines he was subscribed to. 

Stephen didn’t want to bring it up, not at first. He thought it was just a temporary thing, until he got used to them being back. But when the first week dragged into two and then three. He realized there was more going on than his partner let on, and if he wasn’t going to ask, then Tony probably wasn’t going to tell him. 

The first time Stephen asked Tony what was wrong they were alone in the compound’s kitchen. Tony was making them breakfast like he did every Saturday, but unlike before, he was quiet. There was no humming or soft singing, no flirting over the pancake batter. Nothing. 

“Are you okay, Honey?” Stephen asked as he placed a trembling hand on Tony’s shoulder. 

“Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Tony replied, he attempted to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Just thinking about some changes that I thought about making to B.A.R.F”

Stephen accepted the answer, at least for the moment. He respected Tony and his obvious wish to not talk about what was bothering him. 

The second time Stephen asked Tony what was wrong was just a few days afterwards. He had just returned from the Sanctum and he caught a glimpse of Steve trying to talk to Tony, thought it appeared more as if he had cornered Tony and less like a mutual conversation. The moment the super solider realized they weren’t alone, he took a step back and said another word to Tony before walking passed Stephen. 

“What was that about?”

“It was nothing, Stephanie.”

“That was a lot of something for nothing.”

Of course, it wasn’t unlike Tony to keep things to himself. he had done it for years before he even knew Stephen existed. Though he had been rather open with Stephen about his problems, about his mental illnesses, his nightmares. Over the few months they had been together, The Sorcerer Supreme had come to learn that if Tony didn’t tell him that something was bothering him, it was because Tony knew that it would only anger Stephen. And that must have been the problem now. Whatever Tony was holding back most likely had to do with the return of the others and whatever it was, would make Stephen’s blood boil. 

The answer Stephen sought came that night. He had been sound asleep, his body wrapped around Tony’s, holding the other man close to his chest. He woke to the feeling of Tony tossing and turning and struggling to get away from him. Stephen pulled away just as one of Tony’s arms came up. For a moment Stephen thought he was going to be accidentally hit like before. Instead Tony’s arms came up to shield his face as he muttered something. 

“Tony” Stephen said softly as he reached out to touch his lover’s shoulder. Tony woke with a start, bolting straight up, his eyes wide, breathing erratic as he looked around.

“Tony, it’s alright, you’re safe, it was just a nightmare,” Tony’s head snapped towards Stephen. His soft brown eyes taking in the sight of his boyfriend and with a breath all the tension left his body. He was fine, he was safe. He wasn’t in Siberia fighting Steve. It had been a horrible dream, at least this time around. Tony allowed himself to be pulled against Stephen’s chest. Tears were forming in his eyes as he leaned into the warmth of the other’s body as Stephen wrapped his arms around Tony. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Stephen asked. Tony could feel the question as it rumbled through his wizard’s chest. He wanted to say no, that everything would be fine, but he had been holding back for so long and it had been so tiring, so exhausting he couldn’t anymore. He couldn’t hold back from Stephen. He trusted the other man as much as he loved him. He was always supportive and kind and understanding in ways that no one else had ever been. He knew he could trust him, he trusted him like he had trusted no one else before and Tony at least knew he owed his partner and explanation. 

“You know a few years ago, when the Avenger’s broke up and the media called it a civil war?” Tony asked, Stephen nodded. He had seen the photos in the paper from the airport fight. Though he had to admit to himself it looked more like a fight at a gas station parking lot and less like a ‘Civil War’. “After the fight at the airport, I realized that Steve had been telling the truth about his friend Barnes. I found out they had gone to Siberia, and to make things right and I went by myself. No one else knew I was going and I didn’t let anyone know. I didn’t want them to get arrested for it in case Ross found out.” 

Tony grabbed a fistful of Stephen’s shirt as he paused, trying to find the words he was looking for. “I went as a friend, I wanted to end the fighting, I wanted to keep the team together...It didn’t end that way of course. Zumo was the man who had orchestrated the entire thing, he had done some digging and found what he had been looking for.” There were tears burning Tony’s eyes as Stephen rubbed his back with trembling hands, telling him he didn’t have to go on if it was too difficult. But Tony felt as if he had to, no one else knew what happened that day, he hadn’t told anyone. Not even Vision who had come to find him. “Up until that moment I thought that my dad had killed himself and my mom in a car accident. I thought he had been drinking and crashed...I didn’t know they had been murdered by Hydra...that the winter solider, Barnes. had killed them. He was five feet from me as I watched him murder them, Stephen. And Steve, Steve knew he had done it and he didn’t even tell me.”

Anger was surging through Stephen’s body. He had half a mind to find Roger’s and open a portal where he would spend the rest of his days falling for eternity. He would have done it too, had Tony not needed him. 

“I-I was angry, I felt betrayed by Steve I was upset because the man who murdered my mom was just standing there and I just lashed out. I was stupid, I fought them both, I disabled Barnes, I gave Steve the chance to stand down but of course he didn’t, he was going to, not if his friend was involved. The suit had already sustained damage, the helmet was useless, and he had me on the ground. I wasn’t even fighting anymore.” There was a hitch to his voice and Stephen pulled Tony closer to his body. “I remember him lifting up his shield and I brought my arms up to protect my face, I didn’t know what he was going to do, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid.”

“What did he do?”

“He slammed the edge of the shield into the reactor that powered the suit. It killed the arc. And then he grabbed Barnes and he left.”

Stephen’s brow knitted together. “Roger’s just left you there?”

Tony nodded against Stephen's chest. “He left with Barnes, I didn’t have a way to get back, the reactor in the suit was dead, no one knew where I was because I didn’t tell anyone. It was hours before Vision arrived to get me. I was never sure how he found me. I just know that Rhodey sent him when I didn’t come back.”

That confession changed how Stephen viewed Steve, he was supposed to be this pillar of justice and good, and everything he had just heard seemed to be the opposite of that. He had left Tony in Siberia, he could have died there from hypothermia. If it had been years before the damage to the reactor could have killed Tony by stopping his heart. 

For the rest of the night Stephen held Tony as close as he could to his chest. It was a meant to reassure both of them. To reassure Tony that he was safe, and to reassure Stephen that Tony was there. 

Stephen’s demeanor towards Steve changed. Before he would have attempted to be friendly, to strike up a conversation, but now when he saw Rogers coming down the hall he went in the other direction. When Steve attempted to start up a conversation, Stephen had no problem giving him the cold shoulder. In briefings he ignored the man, He didn’t even look in his general direction. Stephen honestly could have kept it up for the rest of his life, had Steve not wanted an answer for the sudden change of behavior. 

It was one of the few days the entire team was in the kitchen space. Thor was sitting at the table with Rhodey, Sam, Bruce, and Natasha while Stephen was standing in front of the Island stove as Tony made more coffee. 

“Strange” Steve called as he entered the kitchen and Stephen ignored him like before. Instead he focused on talking to Tony who had gone stiff. 

“Strange, I want to know what I did for to treat me like this,” All conversation died, and Stephen turned to look at Steve. There were plenty of things he could tell him, instead he focused on the bit that had truly angered him. 

“You want to know what you did? You left Tony in Siberia, Siberia for fuck sake. After disabling his suit but damaging the arc reactor. You know that thing that powers his suits, the thing that kept his heart going not too long before. You left him without the only thing that could get him home. You know what happens when regular people are exposed to the cold for a long period of time? Hypothermia, which can kill people. He was there for hour before someone actually got to him.” Stephen spat. “You left him there. You didn’t tell anyone that could have helped him that he was there. instead you left.”

 “He went after Bucky...” Steve began but Stephen cut him off. 

“That’s your excuse? That he went after your friend? He saw him murder his parents, of course he went after him! Anyone with an emotional range bigger than a teaspoon would have had the same response! You’re supposed to be this great hero and yet your only defense to practically leaving him there to die is that he went after your friend. Pathetic. Tony saw you as his friend, as someone he trusted, and you betrayed him.”

Silence rang through the kitchen, everyone at the table was staring at them while Tony was behind Stephen trying to appear busy as embarrassment colored his cheeks

“Did you really do that Steve?” Bruce asked in disbelief. Hell is this was true, it would explain Tony’s reluctance to call Steve when he had suggested it. 

No one said anything, Steve didn’t even act as if he had heard the question. 

“Yeah,  _Captain_ , did you?” Stephen asked coldly as he fixed Steve with a glare. 

A wave of satisfaction fell over Stephen as he watched Steve shift his weight from leg to leg uncomfortably. The kitchen was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, even Tony had stopped moving. 

“Well?”

“Yes, I really did that, are you happy now Strange? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“No, I am not happy now, because you confessed to hurting Tony, that sort of thing is never going to make me happy.” Stephen stated. “I don’t like people who hurt him. Now if you don’t mind I think Tony needs to lie down for a bit, and from the looks of it, they want to talk to you.” 

Neither Thor nor Bruce looked pleased, in fact there was a tint of green spreading over Bruce’s neck. But that wasn’t Stephen’s problem as he moved around the island to Tony. 

He was still stiff, and his face was almost the color of the Cloak upstairs. “Come on Honey.” Stephen told Tony as he took the mug for his hands and set it on the counter. “I think we should lie down for a while”

“You didn’t have to do that” Tony tells Stephen once they are out of the kitchen, they can hear Thor yelling as the Hulk grunts. “You shouldn’t have done that...I deser- “

“you stop right there.” Stephen tells him as they paused “first, I love you Tony, and I am going to defend and protect you until the day I die. I don’t care who I must square off against. Second, No one deserves to be treated that way, no one deserves to be abandoned like that. especially not you.” Stephen offers him a smile before leaning in to place a soft kiss On Tony’s lips as the sound of tile breaking in the kitchen meets their ears

 


End file.
